Piece Bearer
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: Barbossa needs to find a Piece Bearer for his eye to avoid a curse.


Author's Note: This story is for my friend Konstance's birthday and is based on a dream her friend had!

Frowning, Barbossa held the wooden eye up into the light of the sun, turning it this way and that as he thought to himself.

He was now the Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea; a title granted to him by Tia Dalma herself.

But the Piece of Eight had also come with a dire warning; one that left Barbossa with an annoying decision to make.

The Eye came with a curse; a curse that had led other Lords who had not heeded the warning to a terrible end if they did not follow the directions precisely. One of the first Pirate Lords had been a man with only one eye and so he kept the wooden one in the empty eye socket to keep it safe from any harm.

Because of this, anyone who came into possession of the Eye was forced to do the same thing or else suffer a hideous end.

Huffing, Barbossa lightly rested a finger under his right eye, trying to imagine what it would feel like to pluck out his own eye and replace it with a piece of wood.

But there was a way to avoid plucking out one's own eye. If the Lord was able to find a Piece Bearer and pluck out their right eye; then it would be the Piece Bearer's duty to carry the Piece of Eight instead.

Pulling his finger away, Barbossa pocketed the Eye and he stepped out of his bunk, looking out at Jack's crew to see who he could use for this.

He would have to keep this quiet of course; he doubted that Jack would like the idea of his first mate not only being a Pirate Lord himself, but also taking out an eye from one of his crewmembers.

Growling softly, Barbossa rested his hands on his hips as he looked around and mentally took off people from the list of possible Piece Bearers.

Bo'sun had too much of his own mind to be completely loyal to Barbossa. He could see the big former slave easily taking the Eye and then slitting his throat in his sleep to become Lord himself.

Grapple and Mallot were brothers and as such, their loyalties were more to each other than anyone else.

Twigg and Koehler both had a streak of rebelliousness to them and sometimes Barbossa questioned why Jack had even allowed them onto the Pearl in the first place.

Frowning, Barbossa clicked his teeth together as he shook his head a bit, doubting that he would be able to find anyone.

"Pint! Pint, wait fer me!"

"Ragetti, I tol' yer ta leave me the feck alone! I 'ave ta clean the cannons!"

Wibble

"Piiiint!"

"Fine! Come on then, ye bloody git. Always followin' me loik a dog ye ar'!"

Barbossa watched as two of the newest crew members walked by and he smiled as the tall gangly one held onto his shorter friend's arm tightly, looking down at him with trusting blue eyes. A second later, the short one yanked his arm away and slapped him sharply upside the head.

From what Barbossa could see, it was the lanky one named Ragetti who was always following the short one named Pintel around. He never left his side; even when he was shouted at and cursed at by the balding man for doing so.

With a smile playing on his lips, Barbossa followed after the two as they headed down to where the cannons were. He then stayed in the shadows of the doorway as he watched them at work together.

As Barbossa watched the two of them; Pintel did not spare Ragetti anything as he constantly berated the younger pirate about everything he did. If it wasn't because he was using the wrong kind of rag to clean the top of the cannon, it was because he had dropped something on the floor and made a bigger mess.

"Ye bloody git! Why the feck do ye follow me aroun' all the bloody toime?!" he raged after Ragetti managed to knock over a pile of cannonballs, causing one of them to run over Pintel's foot.

"Sorry…"

"Sorry?! Yer always feckin' sorry aint yer?!"

Wincing, Ragetti hugged himself.

"Pint…"

"Stop callin' me tha'! Me name aint Pint or Pinters! Et's Pin_tel_! Naow git the feck ou' o' me sigh' afore I crush yer stoopid skull in!"

Whimpering, Ragetti bit his lower lip and hesitated as he wrung his hands together.

"Bu'…"

"Master Ragetti, I need a word with ye in me bunk." Barbossa said; stepping in just in time as Pintel had raised his hand to hit Ragetti then.

"Hmm?"

"Ye 'eard the man!" Pintel huffed, resting his hands on his hips in irritation now. "Go!"

Nodding a bit, Ragetti sighed and followed after Barbossa, pausing for a moment to look over his shoulder at Pintel.

"Why ar' ye lookin' a' me?!" he demanded. "Git goin'!"

"Come on." Barbossa said with a smile, placing an arm around Ragetti's shoulders. "I need to speak with ye about something important."

…

Pintel vaguely wondered where Ragetti was when the lad did not come down for dinner later, but he pushed the worry out of his mind with a firm shake and a soft snort of his nose.

"Barbossa is probably jus' tellin' 'im 'ow ta ac' loik a proper pirate!" he muttered to himself.

But when it was time to go to sleep and Ragetti had _still_ not shown up; Pintel knew that something was wrong.

As he climbed onto the deck of the ship with a lantern to light his way, he knew that something was _very_ wrong.

Barbossa was leaning against the railing of the ship, smoking from a pipe calmly as he smiled to himself.

There was blood on his hands.

"I believe Master Ragetti is in me bunk still." He said before taking a pause to take another puff from his pipe. "Kindly remove him for me will ye? I'd like to get a chance to clean me bunk and go to sleep."

Pintel ran to his bunk then, forcing the door open with a violent slam with his shoulder.

"Ragetti?!"

The light from the lantern filled the room and Pintel could not help but stare at the ground.

Blood was splattered all over the ground, mixed with something else that made Pintel shudder to think about what it could be.

The blood left a trail that led under Barbossa's desk and towards soft whimpering.

Ragetti was hiding under there, nothing but his trembling feet showing.

"Ragetti? Wot did 'e do ta yer?" Pintel asked, walking over to the desk.

"D-Don'!" Ragetti yelped softly, pulling his feet in to avoid the light from the lantern. "Jus' leave me alone…"

Pausing, Pintel sighed and set the lantern down on the desk before he then crouched down.

"Ragetti, come ou' o' there." He insisted.

"No."

"Why no'?"

"…"

"Ragetti…Rags, yer 'urt an' ye need 'elp. Le' me see wot 'appened ta yer."

There was another period of silence where Pintel thought that Ragetti was going to refuse when suddenly the youth began to move and crawl out from under the table.

He kept a hand clapped tightly over his right eye, trying his best to keep it turned away from Pintel.

"Did 'e do somefing ta yer eye?" Pintel asked, guilt making him gentle towards the lad.

"I…"

"Le' me see et, Rags."

"I can'!" he wept.

"Why no'?"

"Barbossa said tha' if'n I didn' keep et safe tha' 'e would kill yer!" he whimpered.

"Keep wot in?"

"…"

"Rags? Move yer 'and."

Turning his head so that his left eye was facing him, Ragetti slowly took his hand away.

"Rags…"

Biting his lower lip, he turned to face him and Pintel blanched at the sight.

Where his right eye should have been, there was nothing but an empty and bloody socket; a wooden eye rammed into it.

"Take ou' tha' fing!" he cried out, reaching up to take it out.

"Don'!" Ragetti cried out, pulling his head back and pushing Pintel's hand away. "I can' take et ou'!"

"Why no'?!"

"Barbossa said…"

"Why did 'e do this ta yer?!"

"'e…'e said et were because I'm loyal…"

"Because yer loyal?!" Pintel repeated in disbelief.

Bowing his head, Ragetti nodded sadly as his shoulders slumped.

"I'm goin' ta kill 'im!"

"Pintel! Ye can' do anyfing ta 'im ok?" Ragetti pleaded, grabbing onto his arm tightly.

"Rags, 'e took ou' yer eye an' rammed in a wooden 'un!"

"I 'ave ta 'old et fer 'im."

"Why?"

"…I can' say."

"Ragetti…"

"Me 'ead 'urts real bad…" Ragetti whimpered, fresh tears starting to roll down the left side of his cheek. "Take me ta the doctor an' don' ask anymore questions?" he pleaded.

Guilt was eating away at him for ever treating the young man harshly and so Pintel could do nothing else but nod his head as he took up the lantern again.

"Come on, lad."

"I…I loiked et when ye called me Rags." The young man ventured as Pintel led the way.

"Yeah?" he asked with a faint smile. "Well…I suppose ye kin call me Pint and Pinters then." He offered.

He blinked in surprise when he was suddenly hugged tightly, blood getting on his clothes.

Sighing softly, he hugged him back, lightly patting his back.

"Come on, naow. We need ta 'ave tha' eye cleaned up."

…

In the darkness, Barbossa watched the two head down to the doctor's bunk with a small smile.

With a flick of his hand, he tossed a single blue eye over his shoulder and into the sea.

By playing with Ragetti's loyalty to Pintel, he had gotten himself a Piece Bearer.


End file.
